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Forbes CMO Interview: Grubhub’s Barbara Martin Coppola

The 2016 presidential campaign can be summed up with one word: crazy. This has been one of the most surprising and wild election cycles, with every week bringing a groundbreaking development. And much of the craziness of this election can be traced back to Donald Trump.

The Republican nominee has defied every accepted behavior, rule and preconception that we have about presidential elections. His often divisive strategyhas sparked fierce debate that would often sink any other presidential campaign.

Beyond viewing this campaign as a voter, I often look at it through the lens of a PR professional. What does this crazy election campaign mean for the way we understand the field of communications and professional messaging?

Trump’s campaign has been so outside the norm that I’m not sure we can use it to draw new conclusions about public communications. Nevertheless, Trump has offered several examples of what you should avoid doing in your communications with the public or the media. Whenever I prep my clients to speak with the media, I provide five general tips that they can use in their conversations. Here are five examples from Trump’s campaign illustrating just how important those tips are:

Stay On Message

This is perhaps the most basic piece of advice you can offer to anyone who is preparing to speak to the media. It’s a simple idea: Identify the most important things you need to say to your audience and then hammer those messages home, over and over again.

However, Trump has disregarded this basic PR commandment. Take, for example, his speech introducing his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. Trump spoke for nearly 30 minutes, touching on a broad variety of subjects and barely spent any time actually talking about, you know, Mike Pence.

You Don’t Have To Answer Everything

This is a difficult rule to master; it’s hard to avoid directly answering a question. People, especially entrepreneurs, naturally want to be upfront and honest about their products. Additionally, not everyone knows how to hold back important information. As a PR pro, I know that you have to save some information for future stories and spread out buzz over time. Also, not all information paints your story in a positive light.

It’s also a good idea not to stoop to a low level and engage in negative conversations with your competition. If one of your competitors attacks your business, it’s usually a good idea to take the high road and avoid it. That’s why top brands like Coca-Cola, for example, almost never mention their competitors.

However, for Trump, it doesn’t matter how negative or positive his competitors go; he'll respond. So let’s say someone mentions that you once called Miss Universe "Miss Piggy" because she gained some weight. You don't have to respond to that with a 3 a.m. Twitter rant.